Making his first appearance on "The Today Show," since promoting "World Trade Center" in 2006, actor
Nicolas Cage appeared on the morning program to talk about his new animated movie,
"The Croods." During the interview, Cage talked about the big difference in his life now, compared to the past.

Currently, Cage lives in Las Vegas, Nev. with his wife and seven-year-old son
Kal-El, taken from the birth name of Superman. Though his is not quite what one would expect from a Vegas lifestyle. "I live a very simple life there and I think the paparazzi might have chased me out of Los Angeles," he says. When Cage says his life in Vegas is simple, he's not kidding. "I get up in the morning, I drive my kid to school, I go home, I work out, I take my wife to lunch, then I pick my kid up from school, and that's it," he explains. Cage says his new lifestyle leaves him feeling a lot lighter.

The actor also touches on the fact that he turned down the voice role of Shrek, which eventually went to
Mike Myers. He says that while he didn't refuse the role because Shrek was ugly, he was concerned because "when you're drawn, it says more about the way children are going to see you than anything else." He believes that while his character in "The Croods" is a little scary, he's a big teddy bear, and he wasn't sure the same could be said for Shrek.